THE LEADERSHIP PUZZLE “Putting the Pieces Together” Cindy Nelson December 2017 4-H/Leadership/2017-01pr THE LEADERSHIP PUZZLE Table of Contents Lesson 1: Four Corners of Leadership……………………………….3 Lesson 2: Cooperation……………………………………………….7 Lesson 3: Character…………………………………………………12 Lesson 4: Communication……………………………………..…....21 Lesson 5: Commitment……………………………………………. 26 2 THE LEADERSHIP PUZZLE Lesson 1: Four Corners of Leadership Objectives: 1. Relate leadership to putting together a puzzle. 2. Learn the five steps of leadership (putting the pieces together). 3. Understand the value of each person in the leadership process/puzzle. 4. Learn the Four Corners of Leadership: Communication, Commitment, Cooperation, and Character. Lesson Time: 20-30 minutes Materials Needed: • Four Corners of Leadership—Communication, Commitment, Cooperation, and Character—puzzle pieces. • Blank puzzle. • Microphone and speaker. • Small blank puzzle with pieces marked in different colors. Bag for puzzle pieces. Ice Breaker: Knee to Knee -- A Get Acquainted Activity Directions: Line up two rows (previous ambassadors in one row, new ambassadors facing them) of chairs or stand, facing each other. Participants sit in the chair so they are “knee to knee” with a partner (actually about 1 foot apart). Leader explains this is a get acquainted activity. Participants will introduce themselves to each other and then answer the question you ask. Each person has approximately 1 minute to answer the question. (I usually direct them to shake hands and introduce themselves because I think shaking hands is a nice way to connect and is also a life skill.) When time is up, ask participants to stand up and move X seats to the left (or right). Persons on the end rotate around to the other end of their line. Always have people move the same direction for each switch, otherwise they will be with a partner they’ve had before. They then introduce themselves to their new partner and answer a new question you give them. Play as long as you like or as time allows. Usually five or six questions is a good amount (Gilbertson, Morreim, Skelly, & Stevenson, 2006). Questions… 1. Tell about a favorite vacation you’ve taken. 2. Tell about your favorite way to relax. 3. Tell about your most fun 4-H activity. 4. Tell something that always makes you laugh when you think about it. 3 THE LEADERSHIP PUZZLE 5. If you could invent something, what would you invent? 6. Tell about a favorite toy/game you had as a child. 7. What is one thing you want to accomplish this year? 8. If you were a hot air balloon, where would you go? 9. If you won $1,000 on a call-in radio contest today, what would you do with the money? 10. Tell about a favorite book you’ve read. 11. Tell about your favorite thing to do in your free time. 12. If you could win an award or prize for something, what would you like to win it for? 13. Tell about the first job you ever had. 14. If you were a vending machine, what would you dispense? 15. Other questions can also be used. Introduction: Ask the question, “How can we relate leadership training and skills to putting a jigsaw puzzle together?” The first step in putting a puzzle together is to look at the picture on the box to see what the completed puzzle will look like. As a leader, you need to have a vision (picture) of the final product, and what it is you are trying to accomplish. (Show a blank puzzle to the group.) It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to put a puzzle together if you do not know what the picture looks like. (Crumble the puzzle and ask how hard this would be to put together.) It is also difficult to be a good leader if you do not know what you are trying to accomplish. Step #1-Have a vision, know what you want to accomplish. What is the next step in putting a puzzle together? Turning the puzzle pieces over and sorting them out, corners, straight edges, similar colors, etc. As our 4-H leadership club first meets, we begin by “sorting out and turning over the pieces.” We are getting to know everyone and discovering what qualities each person will contribute to the group. We will find out which people will fit easily into the puzzle, and which ones will take a little more time to fit into the puzzle. 4 THE LEADERSHIP PUZZLE Step #2-Get to know your group members. Next, we single out the corner and edge pieces. The corner pieces are important because they help define the puzzle. They are the starting and ending points of a puzzle, the foundation, or the corner stones of a puzzle. The Four Corners of Leadership are: (Show four large corner puzzle pieces, each with one leadership trait printed on it) Communication, Commitment, Cooperation, and Character. At each of our four training meetings, we will focus on one of these corners. (Hand a corner puzzle piece to four different people, have them stand in a square shape with each puzzle piece, forming a corner. Leave enough room between the corner pieces for people to stand.) Communication Commitment Cooperation Character Step #3-Identify leadership qualities you need to be an effective leader The puzzle edges come next. They form the outline of the puzzle, help to keep it together, and enclose it to the proper size and shape. The puzzle edges are our leaders/mentors who teach us how to lead by establishing appropriate boundaries, and help us “keep it all together.” (Move the leaders into the edge spaces between the corner pieces.) Step #4-Follow the guidelines Lastly, we take all of the puzzle pieces and carefully begin to fit them into the puzzle boarders. (Place the youth in between the corners and edges of the puzzle.) The middle puzzle pieces are a variety of colors and shapes. There are large ones, small ones, plain ones, multi colored ones, round ones, and straight ones, but they all fit together. The middle pieces represent you as youth leaders. YOU, are the focal point of this program. YOU complete the picture we are looking for in training future leaders. YOUR unique personality traits and leadership qualities are what make our leadership puzzle so spectacular. Step #5-Understand your importance, where you fit, and what you have to offer. Some puzzles are easy to put together, while others are more complicated and take more time. The important thing to remember is that no matter how long it takes to complete a puzzle, eventually all of 5 THE LEADERSHIP PUZZLE the pieces fit together and create a beautiful picture. Your challenge throughout this leadership program is to figure out what YOUR piece of the puzzle is. Our leadership puzzle will take shape one step at a time as we develop leadership qualities, practice our skills, and plan and present at our teen retreat. Learning Activity: Have the youth find a partner and recite the Four Corners of Leadership: Communication, Commitment, Cooperation, and Character. As a group, list the five steps of leadership. Step #1-Have a vision, know what you want to accomplish Step #2-Get to know your group members Step #3-Identify leadership qualities you will need to be an effective leader Step #4-Follow the guidelines Step #5-Understand your importance, where you fit, and what you have to offer Additional puzzle idea: Divide the youth and adults into groups using small puzzle pieces. Determine the number of participants and the number of groups you need, ex: 30 people, 3 groups. Use a blank puzzle with 30 pieces. Mark each section of 10 pieces with a different color such as blue, green, and purple. Place the puzzle pieces into a bag and let each participant choose one. They then find their color group and put the small puzzle section together. This is the group they will stay with for the rotation activities of the day. Explain that you want them to become connected/bonded/fit together during the activities, just like their puzzle pieces are. 6 THE LEADERSHIP PUZZLE Lesson 2: Cooperation Objectives: 1. Learn the meaning of cooperation and how it relates to leadership. 2. Practice cooperation skills through hands-on activities. 3. Demonstrate how combining strengths makes you a better leader. Lesson Time: 60 minutes Materials Needed: • Four leadership corner puzzle pieces • Popsicle/craft stick for each person • Markers • Masking tape • How to Be a Cooperative Person handout • Raccoon Circle webbing (tubular nylon climbing webbing) Introduction: Hold up the Cooperation corner puzzle piece. Explain that this lesson will focus on the leadership quality of cooperation. Complete as many learning activities as time allows. Discuss how each activity uses cooperation to improve leadership. Debrief and reflect after each activity and at the conclusion of the session. Learning Activity #1 Popsicle Stick Strength Directions: Have each participant take one popsicle stick and a marker and write his or her name and best leadership trait or skill. Once everyone has done this, spread each participant along an imaginary line. The goal is to see who can throw their popsicle stick the farthest. (This represents how far their skills and talents will take them.) Determine the winner, then have everyone put their sticks together. Make them into a bundle and tape them together. Now take the bundle and throw it as far as you can. (This represents what they can do collectively when they combine their strengths.) Discussion: Explain that even though everyone brings leadership qualities into this program, they cannot do everything by themselves. We become better leaders and plan better activities when we combine our skills and resources and cooperate with each other.